Community Notes

Bowen Community Notes provides important community information to over 650 parents in Newton, MA. For publication, please send a brief notice, ready for publication, in plain text format to: Bowen Community Notes (no attachments, please). If accepted, your note will be included on the website. The Bowen PTO reserves the right to accept or reject announcements for publication at their discretion.

Planning for Arts and Culture for Newton – please take a brief survey

The City of Newton is currently undertaking a 7-month planning process to create a Comprehensive Arts & Cultural Plan for the City.

The plan, entitled Create Newton, will identify all of Newton’s arts and cultural assets – from our buildings and non-profits, to the events and festivals we host, to the local traditions and initiatives in our villages and neighborhoods. We will explore how arts and cultural goals and interests are aligned with our businesses, recreational opportunities, and commercial districts, and identify goals, set out recommendations, and seek opportunities to collaborate and expand our pool of funding.

Input from parents, and children 12 years and older, who enjoy Newton’s arts and cultural events is greatly valued. Please take 10 minutes to complete this anonymous survey to assist in the planning process:

As part of its mission, Newton’s Harmony Foundation (The Foundation for Racial, Ethnic and Religious Harmony) provides small grants to Newton organizations whose programming facilitates community learning, understanding, respect, and unity across the divides of racial, ethnic, religious and cultural differences. The Foundation’s scope is intergenerational with many program grants benefitting those in preschool through high school.

The Harmony Foundation is now accepting grant proposals from community groups, K-12 educational institutions and other related local organizations whose program initiatives align with their primary mission, to assist the Newton community in cultivating and valuing diversity as a unique source of community strength.

Grants typically are in the range of $200-$1,500, with an expected average grant size of $500-$750. This fall’s application deadline is September 30th. Applications may be submitted for current programs or for programs scheduled to occur in 2020.

Registration is open for the Destination Imagination 2019 – 2020 Season

Destination Imagination (DI) is a creative problem solving competition that blends Science and Technology with the Arts. For the past 10 years, over 500 Newton students have participated in the Destination Imagination (DI) program.

Join members of the League of Women Voters of Newton (LWVN) as they host a community discussion led by constitutional law professor, Jed Shugerman. You’ll be talking about our constitution and how it is holding up; is our constitution still working the way it was intended? is there still a balance of powers among the three branches of government? is the Supreme Court still an independent branch of government or should structural changes be made? what about the independence of the Fed, the Attorney General and the Department of Justice? are we near a constitutional crisis?

Jed Shugerman, a Newton resident and former Bowen PTO co-chair, is a law professor and legal historian at Fordham University in New York. He teaches torts, administrative law and constitutional history.

Jed is the author of The People’s Courts: Pursuing Judicial Independence in America (2012), on the evolution of judicial elections and politics in America. He is working on a new book, The Rise of the Prosecutor Politicians, on the history of American prosecutors and mass incarceration. His articles often appear in law reviews and major national newspapers such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, Slate, and The Atlantic. He appears on MSNBC, CNN and CBC to discuss legal issues, and he writes about law and politics at shugerblog.com and on Twitter @jedshug.

A question and answer session and open discussion will follow after Mr. Shugerman’s presentation. RSVPs to info@lwvnewton.org are appreciated!

The Fall 2019 season begins on September 8th at the recently renovated Daly Field on Nonantum Road. Games take less than one hour and are held on Sundays between 12 and 3 pm. All games are coached, professionally refereed and scored. Registration guarantees each player 8 games, including playoffs. Divisions are available for kids grades K – 10.

Enjoy a walk in the arboretum with Newton Cemetery arborist Julie Clements as she guides a tour showcasing the interesting variety of Fall colors. The tour will take place rain or shine.

Comfortable walking shoes, water, a camera and plenty of questions are recommended. The tour will last approximately 90 minutes. Meet just inside the main gate in front of the office. Parking is available on the cemetery roads or in the chapel parking lot. For more information, call 617-332-0047.

Suggested Donation: $10.00. The tour is free and open to all but donations to the Friends of Newton Cemetery are welcome and support arboretum education and care.

October 19th, 1:00pm
Newton Cemetery & Arboretum, 791 Walnut Street

Newton Cemetery is an accredited Arboretum with the Morton Register of Arboreta.

NewtonSTEM.org publishes a weekly newsletter of announcements about Science/Tech/Engineering/Math relevant to Newton students, parents, teachers, and community volunteers.

Sign up for the weekly email here, and you can unsubscribe at any time. Now in its eighth year, NewtonSTEM is a clearinghouse for information about STEM achievements, events, opportunities, and resources, both in and outside of school, specifically relevant to Newton.

The Bowen PTO web site and any email messages generated from same may publish announcements and links on behalf of third parties with the goal of publicizing information that may be of value and interest to the Bowen school community. Some information contained herein may concern programs, activities, or entities unrelated to the Bowen PTO and whether the intended or unintended recipient, you are advised that the disclosing, copying, distributing or taking action based on the reliance of this information is at your own risk.